Earth from Deep Space. December of 1968, the Apollo 8 mission's impressive list of firsts includes the first photograph of the Earth from deep space. As Apollo 8 rounded the far side of the Moon, the crew could look toward the lunar horizon and see the Earth appear rise, due their spacecraft's orbital motion. The famous picture that resulted, of a distant blue Earth above the Moon's limb, was a marvellous gift to the world (NASA Media Archives).